Louise Ho Pui-shan (, born 31 December 1967) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

retired civil servant and principal official who served as

Commissioner of Customs and Excise A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

from 2021 to 2024, the first woman to hold that post.

Early years

Ho was born on 31 December 1967, and studied in

Ying Wa Girls' School Ying Wa Girls' School () is a The Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China, HKCCCC secondary day school for girls in Mid-Levels, in Hong Kong. The campus is located at 76 Robinson Road, Hong Kong, Robinson Road, Mid-levels. The ...

, before graduating from the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

with

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

Government career

Ho joined the Customs and Excise Department in February 1991 as Inspector of Customs and Excise in February 1991, and was chosen as the best recruit at the passing out parade from Customs And Excise Training School. Ho was promoted to Superintendent in 2010, and later in 2013 to Senior Superintendent to handle parallel trading. She was awarded with Meritorious Service Medals () and and was further promoted to Deputy Commissioner two years later. On 21 October 2021, Louise Ho was appointed as the

, and was inaugurated with the

National Emblem of the People's Republic of China The National Emblem of the People's Republic of China is a national symbol of the China, People's Republic of China and contains in a red circle a representation of Tiananmen, Tiananmen Gate, the entrance gate to the Forbidden City chinese pa ...

after the amendment to National Flag and National Emblem Ordinance was passed. She told reporters after inauguration ceremony that smuggling lobsters from Hong Kong to China will undermine Chinese trade restrictions against Australia, and endanger the national security, hence the customs has intensified the crackdown on so. As the Chinese Government has been claiming the ban on Australian lobsters was over fears of elevated traces of minerals and metals since October 2020, comments from Ho were the first official remarks that suggest the targeting of Australian lobsters was motivated by political interests, not health or contamination fears. Australian Trade Minister

Dan Tehan Daniel Thomas Tehan (; born 27 January 1968) is an Australian politician currently serving as the Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. He is a member of the Liberal Party and has been a member of the House of Representatives since t ...

, as a result, asked Beijing whether Australia was economically sanctioned. Ho later insisted food security is part of national security, argued that her comments were misinterpreted and the authorities will not tolerate so.

Family

Louise Ho, who was Assistant Superintendent in Customs Department at that time, met Chief Immigration Officer

Erick Tsang Erick Tsang Kwok-wai (; born 1 September 1963) is a Hong Kong government official. Since 2020, he has been Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, one of the principal officials of Hong Kong. Prior to that, he was Director of Immi ...

at work. The duo got married while Tsang was in posting at Office of the Hong Kong Government in Beijing, and finally registered their marriage in 2007. Tsang and Ho did not go on honeymoon, and had no children because of work. They are the first and so far the only pair of couples to serve simultaneously as "principal officials" of the special administrative region.https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/4/181777/Louise-Ho-Pui-shan-named-Hong-Kong%E2%80%99s-first-female-Customs-chief https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2177000/hong-kong-customs-blazes-trail-women-law-enforcement https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3153097/hong-kong-gets-its-first-female-customs-chief-louise-ho

Honour

* C.M.S.M. (1 July 2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Louise Hong Kong women civil servants Government officials of Hong Kong Living people 1967 births Alumni of the University of Hong Kong 21st-century Hong Kong people 21st-century civil servants 21st-century women civil servants 21st-century Hong Kong women Hong Kong pro-Beijing politicians